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Divyanshu Gautam

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Carbon footprint Reduction for Blinkit

This project explores reduction of carbon emission for BLINKIT, focusing on minimizing last-mile delivery emissions through smarter design interventions. It aims to create a seamless balance between speed, convenience, and sustainability ensuring users don’t have to compromise on their shopping experience while contributing to a greener future.

blinkit

India's last-minute app

Problem Statement

Quick commerce is fast, but often not eco-friendly. Frequent, small deliveries and packaging waste contribute to high carbon emissions.

How might we help Blinkit and its users make more sustainable choices without compromising convenience?

Goals

• Reduce Blinkit's last-mile delivery carbon footprint.

• Encourage eco-conscious behavior through design.

• Improve operational efficiency and user experience.

285 gm

CO₂ per parcel in India vs. 204 g global average

51%

51% of 285 gm only by transport

8 M tonnes

CO₂ by 2030 in India

Breaking down the problem statement

What are carbon footprints?

A carbon footprint is the total greenhouse gas emissions caused directly or indirectly by an individual, product, or organization, measured in CO₂ equivalents.

What are Greenhouse gases?

Greenhouse gases are like CO₂, CH₄, N₂O, and fluorinated gases that trap heat in the Earth's atmosphere, causing greenhouse and global warming.

Benefits of reducing carbon footprints -

• Slows climate change by lowering greenhouse gas emissions preserving ecosystem.

• Promotes sustainable economic growth and job creation in green sectors.

• Future-proofs the business against rising fuel prices.

Activities that leads to greenhouse gases -

• High rates of nonrenewable energy manufacturing products.

• Packaging products using non-compostable or recyclable materials.

• Shipping them using energy-inefficient vehicles.

Why Blinkit should focus on this problem?

Biggest Challenge

India's last-mile emissions per delivery of 285 grams carbon dioxide (gCO2) are much higher than the global weighted average of 204 gCO2.

Competitors

Compared to it’s competitions, Blinkit is lagging way behind when it comes to initiatives taken to address sustainability.

Impact

• Increase in customer satisfaction.

• Increase in brand image.

• Contributing positively towards environment.

User Personas

Once it was clear about what the real problem is, I tried to figure out some user personas to get a better grip on solutions to come upon with.

Name : Arvind Patel
Location : Mumbai, India
Occupation : IT Project Manager
Tech Comfort : Moderate

Motivation :
• Reliable family meals
• Choosing environmentally
responsible options

Pain Points :
• Concern about pollution
• No time to research eco-friendly
choices

“I want convenience, but I also want
to do right by my kids and the Family.”
Name : Kartik Sharma
Location : Roorkee, India
Occupation : Engineering student
Tech Comfort : High

Motivation :
• Affordable, fast food delivery
• Love to support brands
aligned with sustainability.

Pain Points :
• Unsure how his choices help
• Perception that eco-friendly
are expensive

“I’m on a budget, but I still care about
the environment — can I do both?”
Name : Arvind Patel
Location : Mumbai, India
Occupation : IT Project Manager
Tech Comfort : Moderate

Motivation :
• Reliable family meals
• Choosing environmentally
responsible options

Pain Points :
• Concern about pollution
• No time to research eco-friendly
choices

“I want convenience, but I also want
to do right by my kids and the Family.”
Name : Arvind Patel
Location : Mumbai, India
Occupation : IT Project Manager
Tech Comfort : Moderate

Motivation :
• Reliable family meals
• Choosing environmentally
responsible options

Pain Points :
• Concern about pollution
• No time to research eco-friendly
choices

“I want convenience, but I also want
to do right by my kids and the Family.”
Name : Kartik Sharma
Location : Roorkee, India
Occupation : Engineering student
Tech Comfort : High

Motivation :
• Affordable, fast food delivery
• Love to support brands
aligned with sustainability.

Pain Points :
• Unsure how his choices help
• Perception that eco-friendly
are expensive

“I’m on a budget, but I still care about
the environment — can I do both?”
Name : Arvind Patel
Location : Mumbai, India
Occupation : IT Project Manager
Tech Comfort : Moderate

Motivation :
• Reliable family meals
• Choosing environmentally
responsible options

Pain Points :
• Concern about pollution
• No time to research eco-friendly
choices

“I want convenience, but I also want
to do right by my kids and the Family.”
Name : Arvind Patel
Location : Mumbai, India
Occupation : IT Project Manager
Tech Comfort : Moderate

Motivation :
• Reliable family meals
• Choosing environmentally
responsible options

Pain Points :
• Concern about pollution
• No time to research eco-friendly
choices

“I want convenience, but I also want
to do right by my kids and the Family.”
Name : Kartik Sharma
Location : Roorkee, India
Occupation : Engineering student
Tech Comfort : High

Motivation :
• Affordable, fast food delivery
• Love to support brands
aligned with sustainability.

Pain Points :
• Unsure how his choices help
• Perception that eco-friendly
are expensive

“I’m on a budget, but I still care about
the environment — can I do both?”
Name : Arvind Patel
Location : Mumbai, India
Occupation : IT Project Manager
Tech Comfort : Moderate

Motivation :
• Reliable family meals
• Choosing environmentally
responsible options

Pain Points :
• Concern about pollution
• No time to research eco-friendly
choices

“I want convenience, but I also want
to do right by my kids and the Family.”
Name : Arvind Patel
Location : Mumbai, India
Occupation : IT Project Manager
Tech Comfort : Moderate

Motivation :
• Reliable family meals
• Choosing environmentally
responsible options

Pain Points :
• Concern about pollution
• No time to research eco-friendly
choices

“I want convenience, but I also want
to do right by my kids and the Family.”
Name : Kartik Sharma
Location : Roorkee, India
Occupation : Engineering student
Tech Comfort : High

Motivation :
• Affordable, fast food delivery
• Love to support brands
aligned with sustainability.

Pain Points :
• Unsure how his choices help
• Perception that eco-friendly
are expensive

“I’m on a budget, but I still care about
the environment — can I do both?”
Name : Arvind Patel
Location : Mumbai, India
Occupation : IT Project Manager
Tech Comfort : Moderate

Motivation :
• Reliable family meals
• Choosing environmentally
responsible options

Pain Points :
• Concern about pollution
• No time to research eco-friendly
choices

“I want convenience, but I also want
to do right by my kids and the Family.”

Research & Insights

To ground this project in reality, I explored both user perspectives and delivery partner challenges through surveys and interviews. The goal was to understand behavioral drivers, pain points, and operational feasibility.

Surveys

64% said they would choose an eco-friendly option if it didn’t add significant cost or delay.

57% mentioned packaging waste as their biggest frustration.

Interviews
(Users)

I don’t need bills in every order, it just fills up my drawer.”

If delivery takes 5–10 minutes longer but saves waste, I’m okay with it.

Delivery
Partners

Shared that batching multiple orders during peak hours is operationally feasible, but not optimized in the current system,

Key Insights: Both customers and delivery partners are open to sustainable alternatives, provided convenience is not compromised. Customers prioritize reducing waste, while partners see opportunities to increase efficiency through better order optimization.

Identifying Opportunities

After understanding the entire customer journey of these personas, I tried to find ideas where Blinkit can implement solutions & features to reduce CO2 and at the same time people could realize the impact of environment without compromising on the current user experiences.

User Journey

Opportunities

Solutions

Discovery

Search Items

Add to cart

Review cart

Make payment

Takes delivery

Post delivery

No major opportunities in these 3 sections

How can we encourage users to place all their order at once

by highlighting the benefits of doing so?

How can we design incentives that motivate users to

make sustainable choices?

How can we make users realize the efforts that Blinkit is talking to

reduce C02 emission at last mile delivery?

How can we make users aware as to how they are impacting the

environment in positive way using Blinkit?

Bulk Benefits

• Stacked Delivery

• Optional paper bills

• Reusable bags

• Move to EV Vehicles

• Eco-wallet

Blinkit UI

Solutions

After understanding each & every aspect including user pain points, needs & motivation, the final solutions which Blinkit can implement to enhance user experience and contributing to environment.

Description
• There could be many users who order multiple times in a month & For such users, keeping all BLINKIT bags might be a bit frustrating and they might just put these bags in bin

• Instead of this, give users option to carry their own bags and these bags can be reused for other deliveries — if they choose this option, we can give discount of 2-5 Rs — By default this option will be checked

• Delivery partners will take these bags and return to mini fulfillment centers and return bags there
How it can reduce CO2 emission?
Since, we're reducing usage of plastic bags/ paper bags significantly because of it reusing, it'll help reduce CO2 emission — reducing carbon footprints
How does this feature help us to achieve our goal?
• First of all, if many people opt for this feature, BLINKIT might reduce there CO2 emissions significantly without compromising on users current experience

• Also, we can send quarterly mails to customers showing there contribution towards environment by opting for this feature — Such small gestures might help customers believe that they are doing something towards environment by using BLINKIT

• This might lead to creating positive brand image of BLINKIT and lead to increase in customers satisfaction and adoption of the app
Wireframe
Metrics to track :
• # of orders/month where bags are
returned for reuse
• % of users opting for this feature
atleast thrice/month
• Avg rating of users opting for
reusable bags/month
Description
• Now-a-days, no one generally checks offline bills. Also, if required bills are generally available online
• So, always giving a bill with parcel might not be a good idea
• Instead, we can add an checkbox which ask users - do they need bills and only if they say yes, then bill will be p provided,

• By default the checkbox will be checked
• We can also incentives users to contribute to this cause by giving discount of Rs 2 or 3
How it can reduce CO2 emission?
Since, we're reducing use of paper bills significantly it'll help reduce CO2 emission — reducing carbon footprints
How does this feature help us to achieve our goal?
• First of all, if many people opt for this feature, BLINKIT might reduce there CO2 emissions significantly without compromising on users current experience

• Also, we can send quarterly mails to customers showing there contribution towards environment by opting for this feature — Such small gestures might help customers believe that they are doing something towards environment by using BLINKIT

• This might lead to creating positive brand image of BLINKIT and lead to increase in customers satisfaction and adoption of the app
Wireframe
Metrics to track :
• % of people opting for ' No
paper bills' feature
Description
• This feature basically rewards users for all the steps they had taken to save the environment by using the features mentioned in the previous slides (Reusable bags, no paper bills)

• On their profile, users can see all the impact they had created by contributing towards environment by using BLINKIT

• Users can also see how much money they had saved by using these features
• Once user has contributed significantly towards environment, we can give them some rewards via coupon code which they can redeem on their next purchases
How it can reduce CO2 emission?
This feature does not contribute directly to reducing CO2 emissions, but it will motivate users to use eco-friendly options while they are purchasing — by making them aware about their savings and contribution towards environment
How does this feature help us to achieve our goal?
• This feature would motivate users to use features mentioned in the previous slides — which will in turn reduce CO2 emission

• Also, every year, we can send emails to customers showing there contribution towards environment — Such small gestures might help customers believe that they are doing something towards environment by using BLINKIT

• Also, this data can be used by company to release their yearly report on sustainability — this would give people more transparency on initiatives taken by BLINKIT
Wireframe
Metrics to track :
• # of people using coupon code
provided by this feature/month
• Avg # of visits/users//month
to this page
Description
• There could be many users who order multiple times in a month & For such users, keeping all BLINKIT bags might be a bit frustrating and they might just put these bags in bin

• Instead of this, give users option to carry their own bags and these bags can be reused for other deliveries — if they choose this option, we can give discount of 2-5 Rs — By default this option will be checked

• Delivery partners will take these bags and return to mini fulfillment centers and return bags there
How it can reduce CO2 emission?
Since, we're reducing usage of plastic bags/ paper bags significantly because of it reusing, it'll help reduce CO2 emission — reducing carbon footprints
How does this feature help us to achieve our goal?
• First of all, if many people opt for this feature, BLINKIT might reduce there CO2 emissions significantly without compromising on users current experience

• Also, we can send quarterly mails to customers showing there contribution towards environment by opting for this feature — Such small gestures might help customers believe that they are doing something towards environment by using BLINKIT

• This might lead to creating positive brand image of BLINKIT and lead to increase in customers satisfaction and adoption of the app
Wireframe
Metrics to track :
• # of orders/month where bags are
returned for reuse
• % of users opting for this feature
atleast thrice/month
• Avg rating of users opting for
reusable bags/month
Description
• Now-a-days, no one generally checks offline bills. Also, if required bills are generally available online
• So, always giving a bill with parcel might not be a good idea
• Instead, we can add an checkbox which ask users - do they need bills and only if they say yes, then bill will be p provided,

• By default the checkbox will be checked
• We can also incentives users to contribute to this cause by giving discount of Rs 2 or 3
How it can reduce CO2 emission?
Since, we're reducing use of paper bills significantly it'll help reduce CO2 emission — reducing carbon footprints
How does this feature help us to achieve our goal?
• First of all, if many people opt for this feature, BLINKIT might reduce there CO2 emissions significantly without compromising on users current experience

• Also, we can send quarterly mails to customers showing there contribution towards environment by opting for this feature — Such small gestures might help customers believe that they are doing something towards environment by using BLINKIT

• This might lead to creating positive brand image of BLINKIT and lead to increase in customers satisfaction and adoption of the app
Wireframe
Metrics to track :
• % of people opting for ' No
paper bills' feature
Description
• This feature basically rewards users for all the steps they had taken to save the environment by using the features mentioned in the previous slides (Reusable bags, no paper bills)

• On their profile, users can see all the impact they had created by contributing towards environment by using BLINKIT

• Users can also see how much money they had saved by using these features
• Once user has contributed significantly towards environment, we can give them some rewards via coupon code which they can redeem on their next purchases
How it can reduce CO2 emission?
This feature does not contribute directly to reducing CO2 emissions, but it will motivate users to use eco-friendly options while they are purchasing — by making them aware about their savings and contribution towards environment
How does this feature help us to achieve our goal?
• This feature would motivate users to use features mentioned in the previous slides — which will in turn reduce CO2 emission

• Also, every year, we can send emails to customers showing there contribution towards environment — Such small gestures might help customers believe that they are doing something towards environment by using BLINKIT

• Also, this data can be used by company to release their yearly report on sustainability — this would give people more transparency on initiatives taken by BLINKIT
Wireframe
Metrics to track :
• # of people using coupon code
provided by this feature/month
• Avg # of visits/users//month
to this page
Description
• There could be many users who order multiple times in a month & For such users, keeping all BLINKIT bags might be a bit frustrating and they might just put these bags in bin

• Instead of this, give users option to carry their own bags and these bags can be reused for other deliveries — if they choose this option, we can give discount of 2-5 Rs — By default this option will be checked

• Delivery partners will take these bags and return to mini fulfillment centers and return bags there
How it can reduce CO2 emission?
Since, we're reducing usage of plastic bags/ paper bags significantly because of it reusing, it'll help reduce CO2 emission — reducing carbon footprints
How does this feature help us to achieve our goal?
• First of all, if many people opt for this feature, BLINKIT might reduce there CO2 emissions significantly without compromising on users current experience

• Also, we can send quarterly mails to customers showing there contribution towards environment by opting for this feature — Such small gestures might help customers believe that they are doing something towards environment by using BLINKIT

• This might lead to creating positive brand image of BLINKIT and lead to increase in customers satisfaction and adoption of the app
Wireframe
Metrics to track :
• # of orders/month where bags are
returned for reuse
• % of users opting for this feature
atleast thrice/month
• Avg rating of users opting for
reusable bags/month
Description
• Now-a-days, no one generally checks offline bills. Also, if required bills are generally available online
• So, always giving a bill with parcel might not be a good idea
• Instead, we can add an checkbox which ask users - do they need bills and only if they say yes, then bill will be p provided,

• By default the checkbox will be checked
• We can also incentives users to contribute to this cause by giving discount of Rs 2 or 3
How it can reduce CO2 emission?
Since, we're reducing use of paper bills significantly it'll help reduce CO2 emission — reducing carbon footprints
How does this feature help us to achieve our goal?
• First of all, if many people opt for this feature, BLINKIT might reduce there CO2 emissions significantly without compromising on users current experience

• Also, we can send quarterly mails to customers showing there contribution towards environment by opting for this feature — Such small gestures might help customers believe that they are doing something towards environment by using BLINKIT

• This might lead to creating positive brand image of BLINKIT and lead to increase in customers satisfaction and adoption of the app
Wireframe
Metrics to track :
• % of people opting for ' No
paper bills' feature
Description
• This feature basically rewards users for all the steps they had taken to save the environment by using the features mentioned in the previous slides (Reusable bags, no paper bills)

• On their profile, users can see all the impact they had created by contributing towards environment by using BLINKIT

• Users can also see how much money they had saved by using these features
• Once user has contributed significantly towards environment, we can give them some rewards via coupon code which they can redeem on their next purchases
How it can reduce CO2 emission?
This feature does not contribute directly to reducing CO2 emissions, but it will motivate users to use eco-friendly options while they are purchasing — by making them aware about their savings and contribution towards environment
How does this feature help us to achieve our goal?
• This feature would motivate users to use features mentioned in the previous slides — which will in turn reduce CO2 emission

• Also, every year, we can send emails to customers showing there contribution towards environment — Such small gestures might help customers believe that they are doing something towards environment by using BLINKIT

• Also, this data can be used by company to release their yearly report on sustainability — this would give people more transparency on initiatives taken by BLINKIT
Wireframe
Metrics to track :
• # of people using coupon code
provided by this feature/month
• Avg # of visits/users//month
to this page
Description
• There could be many users who order multiple times in a month & For such users, keeping all BLINKIT bags might be a bit frustrating and they might just put these bags in bin

• Instead of this, give users option to carry their own bags and these bags can be reused for other deliveries — if they choose this option, we can give discount of 2-5 Rs — By default this option will be checked

• Delivery partners will take these bags and return to mini fulfillment centers and return bags there
How it can reduce CO2 emission?
Since, we're reducing usage of plastic bags/ paper bags significantly because of it reusing, it'll help reduce CO2 emission — reducing carbon footprints
How does this feature help us to achieve our goal?
• First of all, if many people opt for this feature, BLINKIT might reduce there CO2 emissions significantly without compromising on users current experience

• Also, we can send quarterly mails to customers showing there contribution towards environment by opting for this feature — Such small gestures might help customers believe that they are doing something towards environment by using BLINKIT

• This might lead to creating positive brand image of BLINKIT and lead to increase in customers satisfaction and adoption of the app
Wireframe
Metrics to track :
• # of orders/month where bags are
returned for reuse
• % of users opting for this feature
atleast thrice/month
• Avg rating of users opting for
reusable bags/month
Description
• Now-a-days, no one generally checks offline bills. Also, if required bills are generally available online
• So, always giving a bill with parcel might not be a good idea
• Instead, we can add an checkbox which ask users - do they need bills and only if they say yes, then bill will be p provided,

• By default the checkbox will be checked
• We can also incentives users to contribute to this cause by giving discount of Rs 2 or 3
How it can reduce CO2 emission?
Since, we're reducing use of paper bills significantly it'll help reduce CO2 emission — reducing carbon footprints
How does this feature help us to achieve our goal?
• First of all, if many people opt for this feature, BLINKIT might reduce there CO2 emissions significantly without compromising on users current experience

• Also, we can send quarterly mails to customers showing there contribution towards environment by opting for this feature — Such small gestures might help customers believe that they are doing something towards environment by using BLINKIT

• This might lead to creating positive brand image of BLINKIT and lead to increase in customers satisfaction and adoption of the app
Wireframe
Metrics to track :
• % of people opting for ' No
paper bills' feature
Description
• This feature basically rewards users for all the steps they had taken to save the environment by using the features mentioned in the previous slides (Reusable bags, no paper bills)

• On their profile, users can see all the impact they had created by contributing towards environment by using BLINKIT

• Users can also see how much money they had saved by using these features
• Once user has contributed significantly towards environment, we can give them some rewards via coupon code which they can redeem on their next purchases
How it can reduce CO2 emission?
This feature does not contribute directly to reducing CO2 emissions, but it will motivate users to use eco-friendly options while they are purchasing — by making them aware about their savings and contribution towards environment
How does this feature help us to achieve our goal?
• This feature would motivate users to use features mentioned in the previous slides — which will in turn reduce CO2 emission

• Also, every year, we can send emails to customers showing there contribution towards environment — Such small gestures might help customers believe that they are doing something towards environment by using BLINKIT

• Also, this data can be used by company to release their yearly report on sustainability — this would give people more transparency on initiatives taken by BLINKIT
Wireframe
Metrics to track :
• # of people using coupon code
provided by this feature/month
• Avg # of visits/users//month
to this page

Prioritization & Roadmap

Not every idea can be implemented at once. I mapped solutions by effort vs impact to create a phased rollout.

Ideas

Effort

Impact

Priority

Reusable bags

High

Pilot 2 Cities

No Paper Bills

Low

Medium

Immediate

Eco Delivery Batching

Medium

High

Phase 1

Eco Fleet Integration

High

Phase 2

Updated Blinkit UI

Learnings & Conclusion

This project showed me how design can go beyond visuals—it can make people think and act differently. By reimagining BLINKIT's delivery flow with sustainability in mind, I learned that it’s possible to reduce carbon impact while still keeping the speed and convenience that users love.

What stood out most was finding the right balance between user needs, business goals, and the environment. It proved that thoughtful design can make quick commerce not just faster, but also greener and more responsible.

In the end, this project wasn’t just about BLINKIT—it was about exploring how simple and effective design can play a major role in shaping a better future.

Carbon footprint Reduction for Blinkit

blinkit

Problem Statement

Quick commerce is fast, but often not eco-friendly. Frequent, small deliveries and packaging waste contribute to high carbon emissions.

How might we help Blinkit and its users make more sustainable choices without compromising convenience?

Goals

285 gm

51%

8 M tonnes

Breaking down the problem statement

Why Blinkit should focus on this problem?

Biggest Challenge

Competitors

Impact

User Personas

Once it was clear about what the real problem is, I tried to figure out some user personas to get a better grip on solutions to come upon with.

Research & Insights

To ground this project in reality, I explored both user perspectives and delivery partner challenges through surveys and interviews. The goal was to understand behavioral drivers, pain points, and operational feasibility.

Surveys

Interviews (Users)

Delivery Partners

Key Insights: Both customers and delivery partners are open to sustainable alternatives, provided convenience is not compromised. Customers prioritize reducing waste, while partners see opportunities to increase efficiency through better order optimization.

Identifying Opportunities

After understanding the entire customer journey of these personas, I tried to find ideas where Blinkit can implement solutions & features to reduce CO2 and at the same time people could realize the impact of environment without compromising on the current user experiences.

Blinkit UI

Solutions

After understanding each & every aspect including user pain points, needs & motivation, the final solutions which Blinkit can implement to enhance user experience and contributing to environment.

Prioritization & Roadmap

Not every idea can be implemented at once. I mapped solutions by effort vs impact to create a phased rollout.

Ideas

Effort

Impact

Priority

Reusable bags

High

High

Pilot 2 Cities

No Paper Bills

Low

Medium

Immediate

Eco Delivery Batching

Medium

High

Phase 1

Eco Fleet Integration

High

High

Phase 2

Updated Blinkit UI

Learnings & Conclusion

This project showed me how design can go beyond visuals—it can make people think and act differently. By reimagining BLINKIT's delivery flow with sustainability in mind, I learned that it’s possible to reduce carbon impact while still keeping the speed and convenience that users love.

What stood out most was finding the right balance between user needs, business goals, and the environment. It proved that thoughtful design can make quick commerce not just faster, but also greener and more responsible.

In the end, this project wasn’t just about BLINKIT—it was about exploring how simple and effective design can play a major role in shaping a better future.

Let’s create

cool visuals together!

Get in touch

@divyansshuuu_

LinkedIn

Resume

Behance

Interviews
(Users)

Delivery
Partners